NU women’s basketball achieves victory, three points at a time

The Cornhuskers had no fear from 3-point land.

A barrage of nine perimeter shots helped Nebraska win easily, 75-64, over Colorado on Tuesday night.

Senior Night for Tay Hester did not play out the way many would have liked. She went 0-2 from the field, committed five turnovers and picked up four personal fouls. But Nebraska countered with five players putting up double digits in scoring and shot almost 43 percent from long distance.

The Huskers came into the game ranked eighth in the Big 12 Conference in 3-point field goal percentage. But they set the nets on fire, draining seven threes in the second half. It seemed every player was cashing in from downtown, especially in the last 20 minutes.

NU coach Connie Yori said her team fed off each other's success beyond the perimeter.

"(When) you make seven threes in one half, you've got a pretty good chance," she said. "I think shooting to a certain degree is contagious. Our kids were knocking them down."

Yvonne Turner hit two 3-pointers early in the second frame on her way to a team-high 17 points on the night. She sparked a 21-2 Husker run midway through the second half to help NU pull away from the Buffaloes. That scoring spurt is the biggest for NU in league play this year.

Turner said Yori inspired Nebraska to play with passion.

"When we play together we're a pretty good team," Turner said. "The only people who can stop us are ourselves."

NU junior Nicole Neals tallied a three of her own to increase the Husker lead to four points at the 14:14 mark. The Chandler, Ariz., native went 4-6 from the field, notching a career-high ten points.

As the crowd carried the team and made the arena quite loud, Nebraska continued to tear up the nets. NU sophomores Dominique Kelley and Jessica Periago tallied 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. At that moment, the crowd was electric, which Yori said only helped her squad.

"Our crowd's been awesome," she said. "... There's a reason why we've won at home better than we've won on the road, because our crowd has impacted the game."

Before the 3-point show was over, sophomore Kaitlyn Burke connected for her second three of the game with a little more than ten minutes to go and the Huskers had a solid 17-point lead. Neals hit the final trey of the game with six minutes left to seal the deal.

The Huskers have now hit nine or more 3-pointers three times this year.

Nebraska picked up its third-straight win at home and will play Oklahoma State in its final regular season game Saturday at 6 p.m. The Huskers have made the postseason five years in a row and Neals said the team is focused on continuing that run.

"It's kind of a tradition so we don't want to break it just because we had a bad season," Neals said.

jeffstraub@dailynebraskan.com